Basic data networking technology has typically been Ethernet based. Conventions for data networking are moving toward IP (Internet Protocol) as a basic foundation. At the same time IP is moving from IP version 4 to IP version 6. During these migrations, in order to support cloud services to diverse tenants, such as IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), EVB (Edge Virtual Bridging), VPN (Virtual Private Network), and broadcast services, data must be routed through all of these protocols and conventions. At the same time, various proprietary protocols must also be passed intact through network routing. These cloud services must be supported with multiple virtualized instances on a common infrastructure.
A typical cloud service will have multiple VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) tenants in the cloud. These tenants may use a proprietary Ethernet-based virtualization protocol, such as virtual cloud director networking infrastructure (vCDNI) (a product of VMWare, Inc.), or an IP-based virtualization protocol, such as virtual extensible local area networks (VxLAN) (also a product of VMWare, Inc.). In order to provide a consistent virtualization, all of the various virtualization technologies must be supported simultaneously together with efficient virtualized multicast and broadcast. The complexity is further increased because some virtualization systems such as the aforementioned vCDNI and VxLAN use proprietary headers and formats that support addressing fragmentation, and formatting information. These cannot be disturbed or the tenant system will not be able to parse data exchanged via the virtualization system.
In an effort to address some of these concerns, IEEE 802.1aq has specified a routed Ethernet approach to using mesh connectivity. 802.1aq introduces SPBM (Shortest Path Bridging MAC (Media Access Control)) which can also be extended to support L3VPNs forwarding across a link state protocol controlled Ethernet network.